How to Steal Mason's Heart

EIGHTEEN

The final bell rang. All of the students scurried past home, while the others went to their cheerleading practice, football practice or whatever-their-sport practice and the others hanged out with their friends, talking non-stop as if they weren’t joined at the hip in the first place.

I received the script Jason sent me, printed the file last night, and to be honest, I did not even try to read a single line of the script. It was kind of hard for me to read, the letters making me a laughingstock in the first place. I gave up, and slept for the whole night, not even bothering to finish the Lit homework. I wasn’t a fan of classics and I wasn’t even awed by Shakespeare’s masterpiece, if he even existed in the first place.

Poetry made sense to me better, and short stories. Edgar Allan Poe had been my favourite most especially The Cask of Amontillado was the only short story I printed and mounted on my cork board. It was a grotesque one but it still held a lot more meaning compared to Romeo and Juliet. I mean, who would fall in love at first sight?

I knew I had a crush on Mason the first time I laid eyes on him but it was vastly different compared to the two. How could Romeo got over Rosaline quickly? Was it because of Juliet’s untainted innocence?

“Alexie Pixie!” That voice broke my deep thoughts away. It was Jason with a lot of papers on his hand, a weary smile appearing on his lips. Would he be ever tired of smiling? I guessed not.

“Whaddup Jason Coleslaw?” I replied with a bored tone, grabbing the stack of paper in my bag, which made my luggage heavier than usual. “Are we going to practice today?”

“Yeah,” he said in a breathless tone as he ran his hands through his hair. “By the way, when’s your birthday?”

I raised my brows. “The fourth of February, why?”

He shrugged. “You’re older than me. I’m born on July 17.” There was a smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes at him.

“I’m just older than you by five months and thirteen days, so what?”

“Oh, there you are,” Ms. Rosedale chirped, clapping her hands in the air. Today she braided her pink hair, and wore a pink shirt, her stomach bloating on her pink slacks. Surprisingly, she wore white flats which destroyed her pinkness. “I’ve been looking for the two of you. We should start practice singing the songs, since the Musicale will be three weeks from now.”

My eyes widened. “Three weeks?!” I literally screamed but she didn’t seemed fazed by my flabbergasted tone. “I-I t-think…”

She pursed her lips and shook her head in disagreement. “No one wants to sign up for Isabel’s role, darling. And I really know the two of you are perfect for each other.”

I internally gagged. If Mason was going to be Oliver, I would rather take Isabel’s role, but a girl could dream.

“And oh, prepare for a kissing scene.” She winked. Jason and I exchanged looks of horror, our faces draining into whiteness.

“B-but what—“

“I cannot risk losing you, Ms. Sanchez. Ms. Dunst declined the role of Isabel because she chose the Mathlete competition,” she said.

I sighed my shoulders in defeat. Jason squeezed my hand when he held it on his, giving me an encouraging smile. “We can do nothing about it,” he said ruefully. We were friends and kissing each other was like kissing your siblings. I didn’t have one but if we did, Cersei Lannister would surely approve of this i****t.

We went to the theatre, various committees decorating the stage. The Winter Musicale was three weeks from now and they seemed to be more prepared than ever. While the actors—me and Jason included—weren’t sure if we were really ready to do our parts. The others who got detention painted props. They didn’t seem to mind doing all of those for they had large smiles on their faces.

“Wow,” I breathed. “This is larger than I thought.”

“We are actually inviting other schools to watch the play,” Jason said. We sat on the chairs by theatre. “Are you nervous?”

“Of course I am!” I exclaimed, raising my hands frustratingly in the air. “This is my first time being a part of a Musicale I didn’t sign up for.”

He chuckled.

“Alright to your positions, darling!” Ms. Rosedale held a commanding voice which intimidated me a little. We walked towards the centre stage, the pianist, which was Salve, sat on the organ, her hands rummaging through black and white tiles.

“Hey Salve!” I called, waving my hand towards her. She mimicked my actions, and did the same.

“So turn your script to the song My Only Love,” Ms. Rosedale ordered. Jason guided me and led me to the page where the title My Only Love was in bold letters. If this was an original composition they made, they sure did know how to make a title. Note the sarcasm.

“So the song starts from you, Alexa, a high-pitched tone on the first stanza of the song,” she said, as she stood in front of the audience, her hands raised animatedly in the air.

Oh god, I couldn’t even sing Beyoncé’s song Single Ladies. Singing this song would be a disaster, I could tell.

She demonstrated, her throat bobbing up and down, her mouth parted widely while she sang the words. I stared at her, my mind whirring me past my attention towards her singing.

“Did you get it?” she asked. I snapped out of my reverie.

I nodded. “Your turn,” she said. Salve started playing the keys, a slow tune occupying the whole room. The theatre had gone quiet, all of their eyes were on me. I gulped, Salve’s eyes signalling me to start singing.

“I had a dream tonight, that tonight I will meet my love,” I sang, my breathing constricting in pain. The melody was too high for me to reach but Ms. Rosedale did nothing. Her brown eyes just stared.

“But will it be for vain? For vain shall I have.” Slow claps surfaced but my heart was pounding loudly against my ears. My hands were shaking unknowingly, sweat trailing on my palms. “My only love, I gaze at the stars every night, wishing and dreaming and hoping you are mine. My only love, I hope that when you close your eyes, you’d think of me, just how I think of you tonight.” I gave a little vibrato but then my voice swerved a little higher. Salve stopped playing.

Warmth splashed across my cheeks, realizing I missed a note. Ms. Rosedale seemed to be quiet as well but she recovered immediately. I could feel Jason’s eyes on me, boring holes onto me. I did not look back at him.

“You can improve that tonight,” Ms. Rosedale said in a slightly disappointed tone. I couldn’t blame her and she couldn’t blame me. I did not sign up for this.

I nodded. “Jason, can you practice tonight too, so that you can guide her with all the songs?” she added, raising a perfectly trimmed brow at him. He nodded.

“Great!” She clapped her hands. “Now let’s hear Jason’s part of the song. Salve, start.”

I looked at Jason. He morphed into someone he was not, his eyes distant and hopeful and he looked like the Oliver I could imagine. His blue eyes gaze at the ceiling of the theatre. “I had a dream, that tonight I shall go without regrets.” His gaze turned towards me. They were an intense shade of blue. “But would it be worth everything? For everything was worth than less. My only love, wait for me as I ride this horse and set my way for you. My only love, I hope that when you look at your window, it’s me who will see you.”

A bunch of claps surrounded the room. Jason breathed, effortlessly smiling at everyone who stopped doing their parts. I shrunk at my feet, feeling unaccomplished today. I did my best but I guessed my best wasn’t good enough.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, there will always be someone better without even trying.

+ + + +

I called mother that I would probably go home late and she agreed. I told her I joined a musical play and she wasn’t mad, much to my relief. Father knew as well for I heard his voice talking to mother.

“You sang great back at the practice,” Jason said. We were inside their house, his father cooking lasagne which made my stomach grumble. Jason laughed when he heard the sound, telling me I should stay for dinner in which I politely—more like jabbed a punch on his arm—declined.

“You and I both know I don’t sing greatly,” I grumbled, studying the interior of Jason’s bedroom. Unlike Greyson’s bedroom, the walls of his room were painted in blue and a basketball poster was pasted beside the mirror. It was a typical boy’s room but it wasn’t cluttered with crumpled papers nor was his clothes were strewn on the floor.

“I think you have a nice voice. Ms. Rosedale understands that you haven’t known any of those parts yet. You can improve, a lot,” he said, opening his laptop, typing away some words.

“Who are you talking to?” I asked, sitting beside him on the bed. He gave room for me to sit, the bed sinking a little.

“It’s Marcel, my cousin,” he answered. “This Christmas he’s inviting me to their lake house and do all sorts of stuff, like skiing, snowboarding, skating and playing League of Legends. He’s so loaded that every time Greyson, Mason and I go to his house, we would bring home some packs of skittles, M&M’s and a lot of Hershey’s chocolates.”

“Sounds like a very rich cousin, indeed.”

“Well, he wants to invite Salve, Cherry, Blake and Ryan but he also recently knew about you and Courtney,” he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. I stood up and stared at the script, singing the song over and over again. We finished practicing two songs today, and there were around twelve more songs to memorize. What had I signed up for?

“He wants to get to know the two of you,” Jason said, closing his laptop and placing it on his bed, standing right beside me. We weren’t too close nor too far. “Since he knows I got together with Courtney.”

His tone was too jubilant, as he let out a candid laugh. We looked at each other face-to-face. I held his shoulders, a slight hint of muscle touching my palms. “Look, if you break Courtney’s heart I wouldn’t think twice of castrating your balls.”

He didn’t seem scared at my threat—which was obviously serious. Instead, he let out a small laugh.

“I won’t break her heart,” he answered, drawing an x mark with his index finger onto his chest. “So what’s going on between you and Mason by the way?” He looked curious. I grabbed the computer chair that was inserted on his desk and took a seat. He sat back on his bed.

I shook my shoulders noncommittally. “We hang out, and we’re friends, that’s all.”

“Are you sure you are hanging out as friends?” He raised a brow. “I know how you feel about my brother but please don’t expect that he will like you back.” Ouch. Even though I knew Mason didn’t like me the way he did for Courtney, it still hurt. My heart was probably shards of glass if it was a fragile vase.

I rolled my eyes. “I know, Jason. As much as it’s hard to admit, I know he still can’t get over Courtney. And aren’t you going to help me on how to steal his heart?” The tone I held was anger. Jason raised his hands in the air in defeat.

“I was just saying. But thank you, Alex,” he spoke sheepishly. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“I feel so flattered,” I said sarcastically and I faked a giggle. “But Courtney really likes you in the first place anyway. It’s obviously written in her face.”

He didn’t smile. “Aren’t you happy you’re together now after stealing my phone and blackmailing me?” I asked him. Now this was intriguing.

“I don’t know, Alexa,” he admitted. “There’s something missing, I guess? Sure I really, really like her and I am always happy when I’m around her but it’s just, I don’t know, it’s like there’s still a gap.”

“Whatever that’s missing, maybe she’s not the one holding it,” I answered. “Maybe the missing part you’ve been looking for is being held by someone else.”

“And it’s you, isn’t it?” he joked.

I choked. “Oh god, never will I be in a million years be with you. I can’t even imagine myself giving public displays of affection. You’re like a brother to me.”

“So what about the kissing scene?” he asked, clearly diverting the topic back to the musical.

“How about we just replace it with a hug?” I suggested. “I don’t care if Ms. Rosedale says we need to kiss. I don’t want my first kiss to be you.” I scrunched my nose in distaste.

Jason let out a rich laugh, the sound reverberating in his room.

“Me, too.”